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Employee calls in every Friday, brings in Dr.'s release on Monday

06-12-2011, 03:54 PM

This employee calls in with a non-work related injury almost every Friday. Monday he brings in clearance from his Dr. He has missed 4 out of the last 5 weeks and it has caused a lot of problems with other employees schedules, overtime etc. I think it's bs, but can't prove it. Can he be fired? Suspended? Any suggestions?

Maybe talk to the doctor and make sure it is a real note. You can download programs on the Internet that write fake doctor notes.

Past that, I am not the right person to answer this, but a doctor's note per se does not necessarily mean anything. There has to be an actual law which cares about the doctor's note. Example. Let's say that I have a Thursay night "fight night". I am legitimately too beat up to work on Fridays but legally that is a "so what". Me behaving stupidly is not a legally protected activity even if I get a doctor's note. Wait for someone who knows more about this then I do, but I would maybe start with real laws like FMLA and ADA and see if they are on or off the table.

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Let's say that I have a Thursay night "fight night". I am legitimately too beat up to work on Fridays but legally that is a "so what".

Lol, awesome example.

I would look up the doctor named on the note, Google their name to make sure they are a real physician, and if they are call the office number listed to speak to them. The fact that the "injury" always ends in a self-made three day weekend is very suspicious to me.

But as mentioned, a doctor's note in and of itself does not mean anything. It would just make termination cleaner if the injury proved to be fake.

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I have many times called doctors' offices saying "just wanna verify this note" only to find out the office closed down a month ago, or the doctor wasn't in the day he supposedly signed the note, or that the office has never heard of (let alone seen) my employee.

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This employee calls in with a non-work related injury almost every Friday. Monday he brings in clearance from his Dr. He has missed 4 out of the last 5 weeks and it has caused a lot of problems with other employees schedules, overtime etc. I think it's bs, but can't prove it. Can he be fired? Suspended? Any suggestions?

Your time and comments are Much Appriciated, Thank You!

(a) Contact the doctor's office and verify the notes.
(b) A doctor's note is not a "get out of jail free" card. You can discipline, suspend, or terminate the employee for excessive absences and a pattern of absences as well.

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You could do as I've done a couple of times with FMLA. You send a letter to the physician and say "Joe has been out the following dates" and note that they are Fridays. Then you ask "is there anything about this person's condition that would lead to absences every Friday?" or something similar.

That puts the Dr on notice that the employee may be trying to pull something and generally ends the issue pretty quickly since no physician wants to say that there is some physical condition that only strikes on Fridays.

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
Thomas Jefferson

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